I say “unfair” not because we’re dealing with a phone that hasn’t yet seen the light of day, but because there are almost six months between these two monster flagships.
Apple’s champion arrived in September 2025. While the Galaxy S26 Ultra will be unveiled at the Galaxy Unpacked event on February 25, 2026, it won’t land in the hands of users until mid-March.
Half a year is a lot of time in the high-tech realm. Plenty of improvements can occur. The irony is that it’s precisely Samsung and Apple that’ve forgotten about substantial hardware upgrades in recent years, but that’s another topic for another day.
So, the reality is that anyone who is after a flagship right now – and who is not fanatically tied to either Android or iOS – is obliged to check out both Samsung’s and Apple’s high-end offerings.
Yes, you may very well end up with a Chinese Ultra – like the Vivo X300 Ultra, the Xiaomi 17 Ultra or the Oppo Find X9 Ultra – but I’m sure you’ll secretly check out what Apple and Samsung have in store for you.
So, let’s dive deeper. I won’t be comparing the two in detail, because my colleague Peter already did that brilliantly:
… but instead, I’ll tell you why you should hold on to your hard-earned cash until February 25 and see what the S26 Ultra will be like. Here are three (and a half) reasons why you should go with Sammy’s flagship instead of the iPhone 17 Pro Max.
1. That funky, privacy-first display feature
A short teaser. | Video by Samsung
Without a shadow of a doubt, this is the Galaxy S26 Ultra‘s big feature. Yes, we’re excited that the phone will get the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 treatment (Qualcomm’s best mobile chipset), but, truth to be told, the difference between the S26 Ultra and the S25 Ultra (which packs the previous Snapdragon silicon) won’t be day and night.
However, the rumored privacy display capability seems really cool. In essence, the display will be able to narrow viewing angles of sensitive information (think of notifications, banking apps, etc.) from prying eyes of people beside you.
2. The fourth camera moment
Samsung Galaxy S Ultra phones are a mighty photography tool in the right hands with their quad-camera setup – and the S26 Ultra is expected to feature a 200 MP main sensor.
Apple’s iPhone 17 Pro Max model is stuck at just three rear-mounted cameras. These snappers are great, too, but it’s a bit more practical to have a fourth camera. That’s usually a secondary dedicated telephoto. While Samsung’s secondary zoom camera packs a disturbingly small sensor, it’s often better to have it than not.
3. Faster charging (but there’s still room for improvement)
If it were up to me, I’d make it illegal for companies to ship “new” phones for seven years in a row with the same-capacity batteries. I’m talking about the Galaxy S26 Ultra and its expected 5,000 mAh cell – the same capacity since (and including) the Galaxy S20 Ultra.
That being said, the Galaxy S26 Ultra is now expected to support faster wired charging, something around 60W. While this is laughably slower than what Xiaomi and other Chinese brands offer (100W+ wired charging speeds), it’s still a notable jump from the 45W of the Galaxy S25 Ultra.
Meanwhile, the iPhone 17 Pro Max, which has a marginally larger battery cell at 5,088 mAh (for the eSIM version of the device), is stuck at 40W wired.
The anti-reflective display (that’s the “and a half” part)
One of the biggest failures of Samsung was in 2024, back when they announced the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Somebody apparently forgot to brag enough about the wonderful glare-free display of this flagship. We found out about it as soon as we got the phone in our hands and we were blown away by its anti-reflective properties.
The Galaxy S25 Ultra is outstanding in that regard too, and there’s no reason not to expect the same feature on the Galaxy S26 Ultra.
Apple’s iPhone 17 Pro Max also has an anti-reflective display, but it’s not as good as the one on the Sammy champion. If you care about anti-reflectiveness, you should definitely check out the Ultra next week.
